1. Field of the Present Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to attic flooring structures and more particularly to a portable flooring for supporting individuals and storage materials on attic beams and joists.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Wright, US 2007/0062147 discloses a portable folding floor unit with two or more sections, each of the sections being essentially identical rectangular planar sections. The sections are connected to one another along their lengths with the use of hinges, providing a flooring unit that can fold up in an accordion style for easy transportation and use. An alternate embodiment of the portable folding floor unit has two rectangular planar end sections with protruding hinge pieces along one length. A series of middle sections are provided with protruding hinge pieces along opposing lengths such that the two end sections and middle sections can be interlocked. A series of rods can be placed through the interlocking hinge pieces to produce the portable folding floor unit with an accordion style folding.
Landey, US 2006/0075711 discloses an Attic Floor Joist Grid System for Weight Bearing Storage called an Attic Grid System. This system features low profile, flat, open and high strength grid panels that are supported by a joist system. The panels install directly onto the ceiling joists in an attic or storage area for residential and commercial applications. The panels are nominal widths that extend essentially to the center points of supporting joists. The system provides a simple and strong support surface which only requires simple, easy to use tools for installation. The panels are easily trimmed to size for non-standard operations and for encircling mechanical and electrical objects. The system is “see-through” and permits full air movement. Hence it does not contribute to moisture entrapment, mold and mildew. The materials are fire resistant and do not collapse or emit toxic fumes in the presence of a flame.
Sullivan, U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,614 discloses herein a rack apparatus and storage panel assembly for implementing across two or more beams. The storage panel assembly is most typically implemented in attic storage space lacking a flooring surface on which to place and store items. The storage panel assembly comprises at least one rack apparatus, two or more railings to be positioned onto a series of rack apparatus and a panel configured to rest on two parallel railings. The assembly provides a continuous platform by sitting between the truss creating a planer surface between the top of the panel and the top of the truss. The method of assembly allows positioning of the rack apparatuses between the truss connections and allows the railings and panel to slide under any transverse obstructions bearing on top of truss.
Fischer, US D539933 discloses the ornamental design for an attic flooring extrusion.
Ellingson, U.S. Pat. No. 7,108,902 discloses a commercial floor mat with a plurality of aluminum rails arranged in closely spaced side-by-side relationship and connected together by hinged connectors beneath the rails. Each rail has a pair of downwardly facing grooves on its underside extending along respective edges of the rail. Each connector has a flexible central web and a pair of spaced upstanding tabs disposed in the downwardly facing grooves of adjacent rails. The tabs have flexible barb-shaped ribs extending along their opposed faces to anchor the tabs in the grooves with a friction fit. The flexible central webs of the connectors facilitate hinged movement of connected rails to permit the mat to be rolled onto itself into a compact configuration.
Eadie, U.S. Pat. No. 6,968,652 discloses a flooring device for positioning on joists so as to allow for easy maneuvering on floor joists in an attic. The flooring device includes a plurality of substantially rigid panels arranged adjacent to each other in a series. The invention also includes a connecting mechanism located at a juncture between each of the panels in the series for connecting each panel to an adjacent panel. The connecting mechanism permits adjacent panels of the series to pivot about a pivot axis with respect to each other, with the pivot axis of the mechanism at one juncture of the series being positioned adjacent to the top sides of the panel adjacent to the juncture and the pivot axis of the mechanism at an adjacent juncture being positioned adjacent to the bottom side of the panels adjacent to the juncture such that the series of panels are foldable in accordion fashion between collapsed and extended conditions.
Fetzer, U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,790 discloses a preassembled attic shelf unit, which includes a pair of shelf support members connected to each other with wooden connectors, so that outward facing surfaces of the support units are engageable with portions of adjacent roof trusses located on fixed centers. Each shelf support member may be rectangular wooden stock material formed with an elongate rectangular groove in an inward facing surface thereof so that the opposing grooves respectively receive longitudinal edges of the shelf in sliding supporting engagement. Nails may be utilized to fasten the shelf supporting members directly to the portions of the trusses such as web member portions interconnecting top and bottom chord members of the trusses together.
Max, U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,241 discloses a portable, foldable dance floor having a top surface of parquet panelling mounted on a flat plywood base, and composed of identical half-sections which open horizontally on a flat surface and close vertically parallel to each other.
Shreiner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,672 discloses a floor mat which is composed of a multiplicity of rigid elongated rails arranged parallel to each other, each rail having a body portion adapted to receive a tread member and a coupling portion by which it is joined to an adjacent rail. The body and coupling portions are found by extrusion of a rigid high-impact strength thermoplastic polymeric material and are joined by a living hinge of a highly flexible thermoplastic elastomer formed by coextrusion with the body and coupling portions. Each rail includes at least two ribs along its underside laterally spaced apart from each other and adapted to support the rail on a surface, each rib being formed by coextrusion with the body and coupling portions and the living hinge of a soft, compressible thermoplastic polymeric material and serving as a cushion and an anti-slip element of the mat.
Balzer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,245 discloses a roll up floor mat with rails or sections hingedly interconnected by alternating, flexible strips, which, in turn serve to cushion the mat by use of laterally extending flaps interposed between the floor or other supporting surface and the rail sections, the flaps being integral with the hinge assemblies between the sections.
Balzer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,587 discloses a floor mat which includes a plurality of rigid, elongated rails each having a side edge positioned in substantially parallel, spaced relationship to a respective side edge of an adjacent rail. A passageway opens inwardly from each rail side edge and includes an outer portion adjacent to the side edge and an inner portion. The passageway inner portions have greater cross-sectional dimensions than the passageway outer portions. Each pair of adjacent rails is interconnected by an elongated, flexible hinge member which is comprised of a pair of opposite, spaced flanges extending longitudinally with respect to the hinge member. The flanges are interconnected by a web having a cross-sectional thickness less than a cross-sectional thickness of each of the flanges. The hinge member flanges are each slidably received in a respective passageway inner portion. The hinge member is adapted to maintain the rails in a substantially parallel, predetermined spacing and to bend transversely with respect to the rails thereby allowing transverse angular displacement of the rails relative to each other.
The related art described above discloses solutions to the need for attic surfaces for storage and other needs. Wright and Eadie each teaches a plurality of boards that are abutted and joined along their long edges by hinges so that they may be folded accordion style when not in use and can be laid flat when installed on attic joists. Balzer, Balzer et al, Shreiner and Ellington each teaches a roll out mat that may be used for attic flooring. These structures are complex and of questionable practicality due their expense in production and assembly. The prior art fails to disclose an inexpensive and self stabilized relatively simple structure useful as a roll-out attic flooring that requires no installation hardware. The present disclosure teaches such an apparatus and its use and therefore distinguishes over the prior art providing heretofore unknown advantages as described in the following summary.